The European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights has published a Synthesis Report on IP Infringement to mark World AntiCounterfeiting Day 2018.

The Report draws together research from the past five years on the importance of intellectual property, its use by European companies, the economic costs of IP infringement, methods and channels by which rights are infringed and actions being taken in response to infringements.

The publication of the Report is accompanied by a pan-European media campaign.

The Report indicates that €60 billion is lost each year due to counterfeiting in 13 economic sectors. This amounts to a loss of €116 for each EU citizen each year, and the loss of 434,000 jobs.

EUIPO Executive Director António Campinos said in a statement:

Over the past 5 years, our reporting and research has given, for the first time, a comprehensive picture of the economic impact of counterfeiting and piracy on the EU economy and job creation, as well as intelligence on how intellectual property rights are infringed. Through our research, we have also shown the positive contribution that intellectual property has on employment and growth. Our work has been carried out so that policymakers and citizens can be in no doubt of the value of intellectual property and the damage that arises from its infringement.

Find our more on the page dedicated to the Synthesis Report on the Observatory website. This includes links to the full report (in English), executive summary (all EU languages), infographics (for each EU country) and press releases (all EU languages).

See also the following national media reports:

• La contraffazione? Agli italiani costa 142 euro a testa (Corriere Della Sera)
• Kopihandel koster erhvervslivet 8,6 milliarder kroner (DR Nyheder)
• Contrefaçon: le coût pour l'économie européenne dépasse 60 mds € (Le Figaro)
• La contrefaçon coûte 2 milliards d'euros chaque année aux entreprises belges (RTBF)